Animatable toy



L. L. CIAM PA 2,698,495

ANIMATABLE TOY Filed NOV. 6, 1952 lllllll 49 INVENTOR. Lmcouv L. CIAMPA BYZVM J ATTORNEY United States Patent ANIMATABLE TOY Lincoln'L. Ciampa, New York, N. Y., assignor to United States Electric Mfg. Corp New York, N. Y., a-corporation of New York Application November 6, 1952, Serial No. 319,125

7 Claims. (Cl. 46-45) This invention relates to animatable toys.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device of the character described which is attractive and interesting to children.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy space ship, the jets of which light up when another part is moved by a user.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an animatable toy of the character described which is of simple and light construction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an animatable toy of the character described which is easily andinexpensively manufactured.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an animatable toy of the character described which is simple to operate.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an animatable toy of the character described which is rugged so that it will stand up under rough use from children.

Other objects of the present invention will in-part be obvious and in part will bepointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a top View of a toy embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a'bottom view of the toy shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional View taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top view of the toy with'the fuselage shown in phantom; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes an illuminatable animatable toy constructed in accordance with the invention.

The toy is hollow and in the form of a space ship. The toy comprises a housing having two parts, to wit, a disc 12 and a fuselage 14 mounted on the disc. The fuselage is provided with stabilizers 16 and vanes 18 and 20. A space gun 22 protrudes from the top of the toy and an exhaust 24 is disposed at the bottom. The disc is located behind the fuselage and is adapted to be attached to a wearers lapel.

Pursuant to the present invention, when the space gun is moved, as by a string 26, the exhaust lights up.

The mechanism by which the exhaust is lighted when the space gun is moved is as follows: A small battery 28 is slidable on the front of the disc between guides 30 projecting from the disc. The central terminal 32 of the battery points downwardly and faces the central terminal 34 of a miniature bulb 36. The screw terminal 38 of the bulb is fitted in a socket 40 above the exhaust, the bulb envelope abutting said exhaust. Said screw terminal is connected to the cup 42 of the battery by an electrically conductive compression spring 44 which in the inoperative position of the device maintains the central terminals out of contact with each other. The ends of thle spring are wrapped about said cup and screw termma The barrel of the space gun projects through an opening 46 at the nose of the fuselage, Ithe baseiof said gunibeing attached to'a flat member 48 which abuts the closedaend 50 of the battery cup. The gun barrel is slidable between two shoes52, said shoes beingclose ienough together, however, so that the fiat member 48 cannot pass between them. The string 26 is fastened to the fiat member and extends throughout the length of the fuselage andout the exhaust.

When'the string is pulled down, the :space gun will-be retracted andthe battery will be pulled down sothat the central terminal thereof will contact that of the bulb. Since the side terminals of thebulb andbattery already are electrically connected, the bulb will light when the central terminals touch. In this way, an effect of-iiam'e comingfrom the exhaust is produced simultaneously with retraction of the gun, or, more exactly, when the gun reaches its most retracted position. Release of the string will allow the compression spring to force the gun 'upwardly and to break the contact between the centralterminals of the battery and the bulb so that the light will go out.

Novel means is provided to hold the disc to the fuselage while at the same time serving as a pin for attaching the toy to a lapel. Said means includes vertical clots 54 in the disc, said slots being located parallel to each other on the outer sides of the guides for the battery. Adjacent these slots and at the'rear of thedisc, flanges 56 are formed, said flanges being located on the outer side of each slot. Each flange has a transverse hole 58-near the disc.

Hooks 60 are provided at each side of the fuselage, each hook comprising a rearwardly projecting portion 62 and a downwardly projecting portion 64 integral with portion 62 and separated by a short space from the rear of the fuselage.

The above-described structure operates as follows: The hooks are inserted into'the slots 54 and the fuselage moved downwardly so that the downwardly projecting portion 64 of each hook will lie against the rearsurface of the disc and the holes 58, or at least substantial portions thereof, are left unobstructed. In this way, the fuselage and disc are prevented from coming apart. To 'avoid ac cidental upward movement of the fuselage which would put the disc and fuselage in such position that they could come apart, a bail 66 is provided having ears 68 fitting into the unobstructed holes and thereby blocking upward movement of the fuselage.

The bail also is the pin for attaching the toy to a lapel. One ear includes a horizontal bar 72 adapted'to engage a wire hook 74 secured to the other car. By movement of the bar in-and out of the hook 74 the toy may be detached or attached to a lapel. By compressing of the bail, the ears may be withdrawn from the holes 58 so that the fuselage and disc can be separated in order to replace the lamp or battery.

Thus it will be seen that there is provided a device which achieves all the objects of the invention and is well-adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawing, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described this invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. An animatable toy comprising a hollow object in the shape of a space ship, said object comprising a housing having two parts, one of said parts having a nose end and a tail end, a space gun including a long straight slender barrel disposed at the nose end of one part, a pair of straight elements at least one of which is elongated, said elements being spaced apart to snugly slidably accommodate said barrel and thereby mount said gun for linear movement only between two extreme positions, means to bias the gun towards one position, an exhaust disposed at the tail end of said one part, light-producing means interiorly of the object, said last-named means being disposed near the exhaust, and means to move the space gun to its other position and to actuate the light-producing means as the space gun reaches said other position.

'2. An animatable toy comprising a hollow object in the shape of a space ship, said object comprising a housing including a disc and a fuselage carried by said disc, said fuselage having a nose-end and a tail end, a space gun including a long straight slender barrel disposed at the nose end of the fuselage, a pair of straight elements at least one of which is elongated, said elements being spaced apart to snugly slidably accommodate said barrel and thereby mount said gun for linear movement only between the two extreme positions, means to bias the gun towards one position, an exhaust disposed at the tail end of said fuselage, light-producing means interiorly of the object, said last-named means being disposed near the exhaust,.and means to move the space gun to its other position and to actuate the light-producing means as the space gun reaches said other position.

3. An animatable toy as set forth in claim 2, said toy having'means to, afiix the same to an object and maintain the fuselage on the disc, said means comprising vertical parallel slots in the disc, flanges on the rear of the disc on the side of each slot, each flange having a transverse hole near the disc, hooks at each side of the rear of the fuselage, each hook comprising a rearwardly'projecting portion'and a downwardly projecting portion integral with the first-mentioned portion and separated by a short space from-the rear of the fuselage, whereby when the hooks are inserted into the slots in the disc and fully moved downwardly the fuselage will be locked to the disc, the slots .and rearwardly projecting portions of the hooks being of such relative height, and the holes being so located on the;associated flanges that on full downward movement of the fuselage, the rearwardly projecting portion of a hook will be disposed below its associated hole, and a bail having ears receivable in the holes in the flanges of the bulb facing one terminal of the battery, the battery and a bulb being relatively movable between two positions, an electrically conductive compression spring interposed between the bulb and battery and interconnecting the remote terminals thereof, one position of said battery and bulb being defined by abutment of said facing terminals, said space gun having a member attached thereto and abutting the end of the battery remote from the terminal facing'the bulb, a string secured to said member and running alongside said battery and bulb to the tail end of the fuselage, said string extending from the toy through the exhaust.

5. An animatable toy constituting a hollow object coin-- a 4 prising a housing having two parts, said toy including means to aflix the same to an article of apparel and to hold the two parts together, said means comprising a pin, one of said parts having two adjacent openings oriented at an angle to one another, the other part having a projection extending through one of said openings, said pin extending through the other, opening and interengaging said projection.

6. An animatable toy constituting a hollow object having the shape of a space ship and comprising a housing including a disc and a fuselage, said toy including means to aflix the same to an article of apparel and to hold the disc and fuselage together, said means comprising a pin, said disc having two adjacent openings oriented at an angle to one another, said fuselage having a projection extending through one of the openings in the disc, said pin extending through the other opening in the disc and interengaging with said projection.

7. In an animatable toy including a discand a fuselage adapted to be attached thereto, means to affix the toy to an object and maintain the fuselage on the disc, said means comprising vertical parallel slots in the disc, flanges on the rear of the disc on the side of each slot, each flange having a transverse hole near the disc, hooks at each side of the rear of the fuselage, each hook comprising a rearwardly projecting portion and a downwardly projecting portion integral with the first-mentioned portion and separated by a short space from the rear of the fuselage, whereby when the hooks are inserted intothe slots in the disc and fully moved downwardly the fuselage will be locked to the disc, the slots and rearwardly projecting portions of the hooks being of such relative height, and the holes being so located on the associated flanges that on full downward movement of the fuselage, the rearwardly projecting portion of a hook will be disposed below its associated hole, and a bail having ears receivable in the holes in the flanges of the disc, whereby the fuselage after insertion into the disc and full downward movement; thereof can be prevented by insertion of the ears into the holes from moving upwardly, and means on the bail'for securing the toy to an object.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,55 1,231 Aronson Aug. 25, 1925 2,487,481 Savitt Nov. 8, 1949 2,588,036 OQuinn Mar. 4, 1952 2,616,215 Martial Nov. 4, 1952; 2,618,893 Gelardin Nov. 25,. 1952 OTHER REFERENCES l'gggashington Post (page 2, Parade Section), April 9, 

